Ulysses 15 Introduces Split Text Editing Window, Keywords Manager, and More

Version 15 of Ulysses was released today, bringing some notable new features to the popular Mac and iOS app for writers.

On Mac, users now edit two texts simultaneously in a split editing window, with options to display the two texts next to or on top of each other and switch the editors around.

The currently active editor remains highlighted to make it easy to recognize, while both sheets retain their individual zoom settings.

The developers have also added new shortcuts to allow for fast switching between (Command-Option-Left/Right) and simultaneous scrolling (holding Option) of the two editors, making it easier for writers to refer to their research while writing, for example.

Ulysses 15 also brings new search and management features to keywords, with a new way to search for keywords in the sheets panel.

There's also a new Keywords Manager lets users edit all keywords in one spot, with options to change colors, rename, merge or delete them.

Elsewhere, users can now set pre-defined image sizes that apply during export, and Ulysses is now able to display previews of web images inside the editor (i.e., images that are referenced with a URL). Web images are now also supported when exporting to PDF, DOCX, or ePub.

In addition, Ulysses for Mac, iPhone and iPad now includes an option to turn on a dark mode for the export preview, enabling users to view what a final ebook, PDF document or blog post will look like without being blinded by a contrasting white screen.

Ulysses can be downloaded for free on the App Store and the Mac App Store. After a 14-day trial period, a subscription is required to unlock the app on all devices. A monthly subscription costs $4.99, while a yearly subscription is $39.99. Students can use Ulysses at a discounted price of $11.99 per six months. The discount is granted from within the app.

Tag: Ulysses

Top Rated Comments

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AzzUrr1

11 weeks ago

Interesting. I just hit submit on my Ph.D. application yesterday. Going to examine this and Scrivener to see which would be best for a thesis.

Any experience on this front out there?

As much as I appreciate Ulysses and Scrivener I would recommend LaTeX for scientific writing. A fantastic Mac client for this is Texpad

Rating: 6 Votes

Joniz

11 weeks ago

I'm definitely a newb when it comes to all these writing apps, but what is the advantage of good old fashioned Microsoft Word? Once I learned how to properly use Styles and the internal-cross-referencing features, Word seems really powerful to me for writing big documents.

It might depend on what you’re trying to write. For a reference-heavy document, Word might be better, I don’t know.

For writing fiction, particularly novel length, I definitely prefer Ulysses over Word, Pages, Scrivener, and everything else I’ve tried. It’s easier when it comes to shuffling and moving chapters around, everything is right there in the app instead of a bunch of files in a folder, and, most importantly, you waste no time futzing around with font, text size, spacing. And when I’m in fullscreen mode, my entire screen is black and all my text grayed out except for the sentence I’m working on, which stays bright and at the center of the screen as I type (instead of going off the bottom or staying at the bottom).

I’m infinitely more productive with Ulysses, having written a number of novels now. And as much of a pain as exporting using CSS can be, I’ve gotten the hang of it and I can export to Word to send to my editor and into a file that I can feed into Vellum to produce a Kindle version that I use to read as I’m self-editing.

Ulysses has some minor issues, but I’m still with it because it just doesn’t get in the way, but does what I need. (Even able to write a properly formatted screenplay if you have the right export style.) Probably not worth the cost if you just need it on rare occasion, but easily worth it if it’s what you live in every day.

Rating: 2 Votes

BaccaBossMC

11 weeks ago

I saw the homebrew text and was hopeful that somebody had developed a BASH console for iOS. I guess my hopes were too high.

Rating: 1 Votes

tuxster.mk

11 weeks ago

$50.oo / year Subscription price is a joke. There must be free software or lower priced that can offer the same.

Rating: 1 Votes

posguy99

11 weeks ago

I saw the homebrew text and was hopeful that somebody had developed a BASH console for iOS. I guess my hopes were too high.

https://twitter.com/iSH_app

For quite a while now.

Rating: 1 Votes

Brammy

11 weeks ago

Going to examine this and Scrivener to see which would be best for a thesis.

I use both applications. The main concern I have with Scrivener is it's essentially a one-person development shop. The iOS version needs updating, and the Mac version will take a bit to support OS features.

Ulysses can require some post-export after care, but the app itself is very solid and is frequently updated. By after care, this is a good example: For school, I am creating a 60-page plus strategic plan. Using Ulysses for the actual creation is aces. I have a sheet for each major section and I can use keywords to see what still needs to be edited. I can export it to Word, and have found a great style on the Ulysses Style Exchange that I love. But, to add the ToC and some other matters, like tables, I will need to use Word for the final bits.

Rating: 1 Votes

mw360

10 weeks ago

$50.oo / year Subscription price is a joke. There must be free software or lower priced that can offer the same.

Go ahead and post a link when you find it.

Rating: 1 Votes

rshrugged

11 weeks ago

What do you mean by "Xs 2"?

Writing “Xs 2” and “Xs 1” was rather cryptic, sorry. I should’ve written keyed twice and keyed once.

Rating: 1 Votes

rshrugged

11 weeks ago

fast switching between (Command+Shift+3)

Is that really the shortcut the devs chose? They expect us to disable the default screenshot shortcut?

It's actually Command+Option+3.

Edit to add:
The above command Xs 2 will switch sides positionally for the Editors, Xs 1 will change focus to the second Editor while hiding the other one.*

To switch Editor focus:
Left to Right, or Top to Bottom--Command+Option+Right Arrow
Right to Left, or Bottom to Top--Command+Option+Left Arrow

*Cmd+Opt+3 works slightly different depending upon which side has focus when you key the command. It all works smoothly, as expected.

Rating: 1 Votes

rcooked

11 weeks ago

Interesting. I just hit submit on my Ph.D. application yesterday. Going to examine this and Scrivener to see which would be best for a thesis.

Any experience on this front out there?

Rating: 1 Votes

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